The Lady’s Maid was one of the most important servants in the household, at least as far as the Lady herself was concerned! It seems that some ladies were incapable of dressing or undressing themselves without help – but that might be a rather unfair comment given the complicated nature of some of the gowns.

Before the onset of motorised transport, livestock had no option but to walk from their farm to their destination – be it a market in a nearby town or long distance to London to help feed the ever growing population.

Maker of all manner of carriages, ranging from small light pony traps to large and ornate affairs requiring four or six horses to pull them. Ledbury had a very successful coach building firm in the shape of Hopkins Coachbuilders.

The rural Cabinet Maker was probably rather different to their City counterparts, and rather than producing the fine furniture much sought after by the well off, their products tended to be functional more than aesthetically pleasing.

Sometimes shortened to “Smith”, Blacksmiths were extremely important in rural Herefordshire, and at least one forge was to be found in most villages but sometimes two or three as there was ample work for all